This press release has just been sent out by the People’s March for Europe, the organisers of the hotly anticipated James Chapman rally launching his anti-Brexit ‘The Democrats’ party.. They are claiming “James Chapman’s twitter account has been hacked and suspended without his permission… We demand an immediate and full explanation from the Prime Minister and the Secretary of the Cabinet, Sir Jeremy Heywood”. Guido has called them up – they won’t say if Chappers wrote, authorised or has even seen the press release. Are they really claiming that the PM or Cabinet Secretary has silenced Chapman’s tweeting? This could be bigger than Watergate*…

*Chappers did also tweet that he was “lashed” about 4 a.m. local time after saying hello to Vladimir Putin.

Overnight James Chapman’s Twitter account was deleted. He sent over 500 manic tweets yesterday and was calling mainstream politicians and journalists “Nazis” into the early hours, admitting he was “lashed“. He even threatened to “shove” Theresa May “into the sea“. Hopefully James can now take a break from Twitter and get help. Shame on the journalists and Remainers who egged him on despite the genuine warnings from his friends.

UPDATE:

Rubber-neckers hatching conspiracy theories over James Chapman’s deleted Twitter feed should give him some space at a difficult time. End of

This afternoon James Chapman claimed Vince Cable will be helping him launch his new party:

It’s news to Vince. A LibDem spokesman says Cable may attend anti-Brexit events but will not have anything to do with ‘The Democrats’:

“There is no question whatsoever of Vince Cable supporting the launch of a new party, as James Chapman is suggesting. A new party is completely unnecessary.”

During literally hundreds of non-stop tweets today Chapman has repeatedly called Theresa May and his former boss David Davis “Nazis“. He has also had an interview with Channel 4 News cancelled diplomatically for “technical reasons”. Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Journalists and Remainers enabling this single-sourced nonsense need to take a look in the mirror…

James Chapman’s painful live-tweeted breakdown is the subject of growing concerns among his friends in Westminster. It is not hard to understand why Chapman is anguished. He was being eased out of the Daily Mail pol-ed role when he took up Osborne’s offer to spin for him. That’s the source of his surprisingly vicious animus against Dacre. He haughtily told everyone on the way out of Northcliffe House that he would be in No. 10 in due course, lording it over them when Osborne ascended to the premiership. Things did not quite work out that way.

For some time after Osborne’s sacking he was in limbo, eventually taking the role with David Davis at DExEU for which he was so unsuited. He then became a partner at lobbyists Bell Pottinger, his ability as a lobbyist counselling clients specifically on Brexit may be a little hindered by his very public and frequent meltdowns where he has attacked almost all the people clients might hope he had some influence with; government ministers, newspaper editors, not to mention influential journalists who write about his clients. His Trumpish tweets are not a conventional method of communication for usually discreet lobbyists. Never mind his publicly stated plans to set up a new party and stand for it at a by-election. Clients might see that as compromising his counsel and judgement just a teensy weensy bit.

On Facebook and Instagram there have been grim late night posts – subsequently deleted. Chapman was escorted out of parliament a few weeks ago after a particularly drunken episode. He has abused those who have tried to reason with him. All this has been an open secret in SW1 for weeks. His shouty crackers performance on the Today Programme brought it all into the open for the wider public. He has also to some extent gone public himself with his hundreds of round-the-clock tweets. Today he has flipped out with David Davis when only recently he told everyone he was on good terms with him. He’s demanded an emergency recall of parliament and challenged the PM to a public debate in Parliament Square, last week he claimed cabinet members were on the verge of defecting to his party. He’s called for Brexit-supporting publications to be shut down. He sometimes asks people like JK Rowling and Hillary Clinton to follow him on Twitter so he can directly message them. His tweets suggest that in his mind he thinks he is Britain’s answer to Macron leading his own party, “The Democrats”. We’ll pass over the naked Instagram selfies. In all this he is being egged on by idiots on Twitter, every bit of praise and support feeding into his mania.

Some former colleagues are going public, most are keeping their counsel private:

Colleagues been asked to go easy on @jameschappers as he’s ‘not well.’ I know he will turn on me, but it’s time someone stood up to this.

Not just media/jurnos – MPs too are being asked to stand back for same reason. His friends need to step up more to help him and his family https://t.co/5nLmpEFSaA
— Nadine Dorries (@NadineDorries) August 15, 2017

To @jameschappers James, you are a lovely, decent and kind man and SO many are worried about you. Please, give your phone to your wife xxx

Honestly who cares? I bet you have Farage’s number too. James do yourself a favour, try and not tweet for 24 hours, your friends are worried https://t.co/6KvbaGLXob
— George Trefgarne (@GeorgeTrefgarne) August 15, 2017

Many, many Remainers are in James’ mentions as well telling him to take a break from Twitter for his own sake. Sadly James can only see conspiracy:

Message to @conservatives: your efforts to get my friends to tell me to call off the dogs and “take a holiday” are futile #thedemocrats

A few weeks ago James Chapman was talking up his apparently ongoing relationship with David Davis, briefing journalists that he should be the Prime Minister and regularly appearing in newspapers as an “ally” of DD. In an interview appropriately conducted by Jeremy Kyle, today Davis has diplomatically distanced himself from his former aide. Chappers has not taken it well, calling Davis a lazy, drunk liar on Twitter. Which makes those newspaper stories quoting him as a source last month look a bit silly. Meanwhile DD would not be drawn on Commando Chappers…

It isn’t just Jeremy Corbyn who deserves scrutiny for his links to the murderous Venezuelan regime. UK PLC has approved millions of pounds worth of arms export licences to the country over the last decade. Meanwhile, “reputation management” PR specialists Bell Pottinger worked for Venezuela’s state-owned oil company in 2014. Petroleos de Venezuela is one of the key arms of Nicolas Maduro’s regime and needed help cleaning up its image after being hit with sanctions for trading with Iran. It has been accused of “gross mismanagement” and sacked workers who didn’t support Venezuela’s leader, pretty much summing up how the Venezuelan government does things. The book ‘Crude Nation‘ tells how Bell Pottinger conducted surveys for the Venezuelans about the concerns of their foreign partners. At least Jezza didn’t actually take Maduro’s petrodollars…

Bell Pottinger could do with some reputation management of their own at the moment. Aside from Venezuela, they are in front of the PRCA this week over allegations they helped stir up racial tensions in South Africa. Other recent clients have included the brutal regimes in Bahrain and Egypt, the dictator of Belarus and the wife of Syrian butcher Assad. Of course, those following Bell Pottinger’s newest recruit on Twitter know they are not exactly fans of democracy…

This morning James Chapman tweeted that “I don’t often wear pants”. This is evidenced by his revealing Kardashian-style Instagram account which has shocked the ladies (and gents) who were his former colleagues in the Lobby.

James Chapman, the former pol-ed, turned SpAd turned lobbyist putting the potti into Bell Pottinger, claims that the Tories will never win an election again and that Cabinet ministers sympathise with setting up a new centre party, “the Democrats”. Chappers sounding crackers…

A narrative has formed that the ongoing Tory briefing wars are a Brexiteer plot to do in prominent Remainers. Readers and viewers are not being told the whole story by the pro-Remain elements of the media. The most damaging smears and negative briefing have in fact been conducted by hardcore Remainers…

The “Brexiteer plot” narrative went into overdrive following the Sunday Times story on Hammond calling public sector workers “overpaid“. Sky News and the Remain Twitterati immediately blamed the leak on Brexiteers. This is untrue. Tim Shipman, the Sunday Times pol ed who actually wrote the story, says “the majority of my sources are not Brexiteers”. This fact is being conveniently ignored by Remainers.

The allegation that Boris bonked a “top female Theresa May aide” is the most vicious and nasty negative briefing. This is not just “allies” of Davis trying to wreck a leadership rival. It is being put around by hardcore Remainers trying to hurt Brexiteer Boris.

Boris was the victim of another negative briefing on Sunday. An “ally” of Davis said if DD became PM he would demote Boris to party chairman and smear him in the press if he refused to accept. Talk of DD’s potential Cabinet appointments are being spread by prominent Remainers.

Then there is the Hammond sexism revelation in The Sun. This is being blamed on Brexiteers too, without a shred of evidence. Hammond is briefing that Michael Gove is behind the negative stories. Gove flat out denies this and again there is not a jot of evidence. It appears it is Hammond’s negative briefing that is untrue.

Then unnamed sources with apparent insight in DExEU told the Guardian there had been a “dramatic change of mood at DExEU since the election” and that Davis was essentially going soft on the ECJ. This was untrue. Yet another BS pro-Remain briefing.

There is a lot of mud flying around and all sides are guilty to some extent. Yet the narrative that the negative briefing is being solely conducted by Brexiteers to hurt Remainers is demonstrably untrue. The truth is the most unhinged stuff being whispered to journalists is from Remainers who have had too much warm prosecco and beer…

Contrary to weekend reports David Davis remains fully supportive of the government’s policy to end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in the UK. On Saturday Davis’ ex-SpAd James Chapman said his former boss had been “hamstrung” by the commitment to leave the ECJ. Today’s Guardian claims there has been a “dramatic change of mood at DExEU since the general election”, erroneously suggesting Davis is now willing to make concessions on sovereignty and concede “political control“. These interventions are wide of the mark and do not represent Davis’ views, according to sources close to him.

The Brexit Secretary remains fully committed to the PM’s Lancaster House speech, which vowed to “bring an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Britain” and not “accept a role for the European Court of Justice that would see it still having direct legal authority in our country”. It is worth remembering that Davis himself set the ECJ red line in March, insisting there will be

“.. no future role for the European court in the interpretation of our laws and the bill will not oblige our courts to consider cases decided by the European Court of Justice after we have left..”

Allies of Davis insist he is not going soft on this key Brexit issue and say any suggestion to the contrary is mischief-making by anti-Brexit elements of the press. Indeed a DExEU spokesman flat out denied the Guardian’s story. A source says that Hammond, Davis, Boris and May are in agreement on all the major aspects of Brexit. Boris in particular would not countenance any backsliding on the ECJ issue. Chappers might be Davis’ former spinner but he is also an avowed Remainer, allies of DD find the notion he is still speaking for his former boss unlikely – to put it mildly. The key players agree on the overriding point that if the UK is still subject to the jurisdiction of the ECJ then we will have not taken back control…

David Davis criticised “self-indulgent” colleagues plotting leadership bids on Marr, though failed to rule out a run himself, insisting: “I’m not getting into it”. Always ambitious Priti Patel gave even less of a non-denial on Peston, refusing to answer the question several times. Count them in your runners and riders…

Notable that Davis broadly endorsed Hammond’s desire for transitional arrangements (though his preference is two years rather than four). The Sunday papers are reporting a Hammond-Davis plot to take over from Theresa May, and Davis’ former SpAd James Chapman is stirring it up:

Was always a bit of an odd move for Chappers to go from Project Fear to the Brexit department. Good luck in the undisclosed new job (expect inevitable rumours that the former Mail pol ed could reunite with his old boss George Osborne at the Standard). Another senior SpAd departs…

Osborne’s former aide and Project Fear spinmeister James Chapman is to be David Davis’ SpAd at the new Brexit department. Chappers hasn’t been replying to Guido’s texts but the former Daily Mail political editor’s eyebrow-raising move from arch-Remain cheerleader to Brexit adviser is now confirmed. The rumoured £72,000 salary cap for aides has caused colleagues to speculate he’ll be on around half what he was earning at the Mail, a bit of a comedown. It will certainly surprise many Leavers that a prominent Remainer will be taking such a key role – his staunch pro-Remain views are still up on his Twitter account. Has he seen the light?